Foreign Spore Germinations: io9 & MDC

Today I have found two separate but equally cool Fungal news articles that are done better than what I can do.

First is a piece by Esther Ingils-Arkell on io9.com who writes "Why are mushrooms more like humans than they are like plants."

In the article she gives a quick, fun read about the fact that mushrooms (and all fungi for that matter) are more closely related to humans (and all animals for that matter) than they are plants.

I found the second article already with its thallus spread throughout the internet; everywhere from Scienceblog to Science Daily to Daily Mail.  I think that I have found the appressorium of the story over at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine though so that is the source I am giving you.

Treatment with Fungi Makes a Modern Violin Sound Like a Stradivarius

This article is about a discussion by wood researcher Professor Francis W. M. R. Schwarze, reporting on his study to modify the wood used in violin making, enabling a modern violin to sound as good as a Stradivarius.

Basically in his research, he discovered two species of fungi, Physisporinus vitreus and Xylaria longipes, that decay wood in such a way that they leave the wood scaffold structure intact. After treating wood with the fungi, and then taking steps to kill it off, the group made violins that were tested in a blind study and deemed the equivalent of the most famous of brands.

Spanish II Stradivarius Violin

If an actual research article becomes available I will try to keep a look out and revisit the specifics of this one.


Photo cred: Wiki Commons contributor Gryffindor